Silver Lining
by Clairvaux
Summary: A trainer faces her first battle in the Pokemon League


The crowd bellowed in approval as the Pokémon ducked and weaved around the attacks from the faster and more agile assailant, then with a deft swing of his bone he caught the legs of his aggressor and tripped the opponent in a fleeting moment of vulnerability, and without wasting a single movement he brought the bone down once again for another crashing whack on his adversary's head. The spectators winced collectively for a moment before thundering in applause once more.  
Defiant, the wounded Growlithe attempted to struggle to his feet, barely summoning the energy to stand he shakily rose to face the opposing Marowak.  
Angered by his persistence the Ground Pokémon glowered through his skull at the insubmissive foe.  
But the contesting trainer decided his Pokémon had done enough, he held aloft his Growlithe's Poké Ball and called for its return. Resigned to defeat it retreated to the safety of the ball and was swapped for another container from the trainer's belt, his last Pokémon, his reserved trump card.

The Marowak had suffered no fatigue and was ready for another fight, as the Poké Ball was tossed onto the field he braced himself and gripped his bone tighter, but cowered at the sight of his next challenger. As the ball clicked onto the dusty grass and cracked open a massive form immediately emerged from it, the crowd recoiled at the sight of the titanic creature as the figure quickly materialized into a thirty foot dragon, an incredibly rare and devastatingly large Charizard.  
The winged lizard emptied its lungs with a roar so loud it deafened the audience to all else, and then with one strong kick of its wings it launched itself into the air, as the small form of the Marowak braced itself against the sudden hurricane-like wind below.  
The ferocious Charizard rounded itself on its opponent and swooped in for an attack, the Marowak's trainer yelled for it to evade, unable to find an initiative. The colossal Pokémon above opened its savagely toothed mouth and spewed an intense jet of fire at the small creature beneath him, nimbly diving aside the Marowak scarcely managed to avoid being incinerated as a long strip of earth was set ablaze and scorched black.

Despite her Pokémon's dire circumstances the trainer smiled as she removed two Poké Balls from her belt, an empty ball for the Marowak, and her final Pokémon.  
"Yet another flame type? Overspecialize and you breed in weakness." ___  
_The crowd were on the edge of their seats as she withdrew her__contender.  
"Vaporeon, finish this!"  
The trainer released another small Pokémon into the arena, a fox-like creature, covered in scales and with a finned tail it appeared to the onlookers to be no match for the mighty Charizard.  
Crashing to the ground in front of the new entrant the uncontrollable Pokémon's roar thundered within the stadium once again, unperturbed the Vaporeon dug its claws into the ground and summoned all its might.  
The clouds overhead swiftly darkened and blanketed the sky, the first drops of rain began to fall and within seconds it had grown to a downpour. The opposing Charizard was disoriented and confused by the sudden turn of events, he tried to take off again to regain his aerial advantage, but the monsoon-like deluge weighed him down and kept him firmly grounded.  
The enraged Pokémon rounded itself on the Vaporeon and reared back briefly before lunging forward, spitting forth another blazing torrent of fire. But before the inferno could reach its target a gigantic wall of water exploded upward from the sodden ground in-between the two rivals, smothering the flames it quickly reached the peak of its height before tipping forward and rolling toward the Charizard in an unstoppable wave. The enormous fire Pokémon turned to flee as the vast wave crashed into its side, toppling the monster as it carried him to the side of the field and slammed its bulky mass into the wall of the arena. The distraught Charizard flailed to his feet, unable to see its opponent through the heavy sheets of rain he began belching fire in all directions, lost in a blind rage.  
Left with no choice the Pokémon trainer recalled his unmanageable Charizard and accepted his loss with a grimace.

"Victory by technical knockout! Trainer Jenny progresses to the next round!"  
The spectators went wild as they rose to their feet cheering in acclamation, celebrating the efforts of both trainers in their furious battle.  
The winner ran down the stairs that lead out into the arena and jogged over to her triumphant Vaporeon as the rain dissipated and the blue skies returned, stroking her Pokémon's head in praise as she waved to the crowd. The sun gleamed on the wet grass and the crowd applauded the spectacle, it was a moment she would always remember as the first victorious round of the Pokémon League in which she would become famous.


End file.
